OCR Text |
Show TAFT AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES. When you are in Rome you must do as the Romans do. When former Pres- ; ideni Taft was preparing to be received re-ceived by King George, he expected to, be one of a group allowed to pass in j front of the king and queen and make proper obeisance to royalty. That act Of acknowledgment of tribute would have been no self stultification be-, cause one must conform to the cus- ! toms of a country But Chief Justice j Taft was aved that ceremonial and was received privately and later taken i&to the throne room ar. a member of j j the royal party, he and his wife being i placed at the right hand of the king.i I as an unusual act of courtesy. To an American the elaborate staging stag-ing of the royal receptions is amusing. amus-ing. It is traceable to the old days when people had to be impressed with the divine right of kings and royalty had to be hemmed in with dignity dig-nity and aloofness to avoid being as I common as the mediocre attainments I of the majority of kings and queens , would make the titled ones, if they! ' i i . -l. .Iluun iWki tJ,, rn-i1o. lldU LU IUUV-11 1 UU " o "iiu vnv. tariat. Today the ceremonial Is a relic of the past, but is kept up as an impressive im-pressive lesson of authority and power resting not alone in the king and queen but in an empire, and so deference de-ference is exacted in the presence of the symbol of authority. If we hold to the teachings of psy chology, Americans will discourage all evidence of self-abnegation on the part of any president, former presi dent, supreme justice or other high representative of the American people peo-ple while abroad. But if our distinguished distin-guished officials go abroad and elect to meet royalty they must bow down to court rules. oo |